In the field of optical communications, the use of light to carry information is the basis of the technology. The transmission of light between nodes within an optical communications system allows information and data to be passed between these nodes. Typically, a transmitter within a first node encodes a high-rate digital stream of information onto a light beam at a particular wavelength to provide a modulated light beam, referred to as a wavelength channel. Many wavelength channels may be combined in a wavelength-division multiplexor for joint amplification and propagation in an optical fiber to a destination. Different nodes of an optical network typically have dedicated light source for transmission of optical signals between each other, as well as wavelength-selective filters for adding and dropping wavelength channels. The light sources at the nodes may include a multi-wavelength, switchable light source for providing wavelength channels at different wavelengths.
As the number and flexibility of utilization of wavelength channels grows, so is the complexity of wavelength channel control and management. Multiple added and dropped wavelength channels need to be routed to their proper destinations without disrupting wavelength channels traveling through a node to a remote destination, in a dynamic, reconfigurable manner.
An improved optical communications system to overcome disadvantages of current systems would be highly desirable in order to provide a low-cost, efficient solution for enabling dynamically reconfigurable, efficient optical communications.